Create Your Own Stylized Characters

For Video Games, Toys and Illustrations

With your instructor Shane Olson

What will you learn? Here are some examples!

How can I help you create your own?

Finding reliable resources for learning how to create stylized characters for games is hard!

There is so much information out there that it is difficult to know what to study and what is a waste of time. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed with it all. And, the industry is changing SO fast!

Typically, there has been a steep learning curve for anyone new to ZBrush.

It can take hours of sifting through free online videos before finding the info needed to actually create something usable with Zbrush without getting incredibly frustrated, lost, or insanely bored.

There are several good workshops available for purchase out there, but most of them require a continuous 8 week commitment and the training stops at a finished high-res sculpt. Hardly any of them take you beyond that point or let you learn and work at your own pace. I want you to be able to take your character to a finished in-game asset, obtain a high-quality render, and/or prepare it for 3D Printing!

With my 3D Character Workshop, I have tried to create the course I wish was available when I was struggling to learn ZBrush and character sculpting.

What exactly is the 3D Character Workshop?

The 3d Character Workshop is my proven system designed to teach you how to create appealing stylized game characters from start to finish!

Here's what you'll get...

Lifetime Access

7 Complete Modules

4 Great Bonuses

Re-Watchable Student Feedback Sessions (new ones added often)

Ongoing interviews of industry professionals. (more added all the time)

What are in the Modules?

You get 7 Jam-Packed Modules, with over 40 comprehensive lessons.

Module 1ZBrush Fundamentals

In this first Module, we will go over all of the fundamental skills you will need in order to be proficient while using Zbrush. We won't go through all of the menus one-by-one... instead, we will go deep into the core skills to get you up and going quickly. This Module acts like a reference module that you can keep coming back to over and over.

Module 2Character Design

A character modeler is an interpreter of sorts. It's our job to interpret 2D characters into 3D sculpts. The closer to the original concept you can get, the more valuable you are as a character modeler.

In this Module, we will go over character design rules to help you interpret designs with a keen eye for design. These rules will help you know what to look for, so you can make sure your model stays as true as possible to the original design.

Module 3Character Block Out

Building upon the last two Modules, this Module will show you a very simple, but effective, technique of using primitive objects to block out any character you are challenged with. Most people are coming from a traditional polygon modeling background. This module will show you how to break out of that mindset, and really focus on the design of the character first, and the topology second.

Module 4Character Detailing

In this Module we will go over how to add all of the important details. We will learn easier ways of creating hair, clothing, and hard surface accessories. We will also learn how to apply materials and color.

Lastly, we will take some time to add appeal to the characters face and overall appearance.

Module 5Head & Hair Detailing

In this Module we will learn how to detail the head and face, as well as how to build eyebrows, eyelashes, and some tips on creating eyes.

Then we will go over how to create chunky stylized hair.

Module 6Character Posing

In this Module we will learn how to pose our character in Zbrush without a rig! Character posing can be intimidating and scary inside of ZBrush, but it's really not. It's all a matter of knowing the process. I will walk you through how to pose your character, step-by-step.

We can then use this posed character for rendering, 3D Printing, or to simply help with the character approval process.

Module 7Game Character Creation

This is the module where we will move away from sculpting inside of ZBrush, and rebuild our topology using 3D Coat.

Then we will create UVs, inside of 3D Coat.

After that, we will bake all of our game-ready texture maps inside of Marmoset Toolbag 3.

Finally, we will build a scene inside of Toolbag 3 for final presentation and send it to ArtStation.

What about the bonuses?

You get 6 fantastic bonuses

Bonus 1Prep for 3D Printing

In this Bonus I will walk you through step-by-step and show you exactly how to prepare and export your model for 3d Printing. We will go over undercuts, keying, thickening, hollowing, decimating, and sizing your character for the best result. This one bonus could be it's own course, and you are getting it as a bonus!

Bonus 2Rendering your character in Keyshot

In this Bonus, we will create the beauty shot of your character for your portfolio. You will learn how to import, light, and stage your character for the best results.

Bonus 3 - Resource Guide

This Bonus is a Super List of fantastic resources that are covered in the course. Everything from free ZBrush materials, to anatomy reference, to tons of character examples.

Bonus 4 - Exclusive Google+ Community

That's right! You will get access to the 3d Character Workshop exclusive closed community group where you can ask questions, post your work, and get help from other students and myself. Networking, support, feedback, etc. Get your questions answered and get killer feedback from the community.🙂 The artists in there are AWESOME.

Bonus 5 - Male Bust Mini-Course

I've made a mini-course on how to make a simple male head/bust rather than the whole character. It's much lighter, and you can follow along and make your own head as I do it. Students are loving it!

Bonus 6 - Early Beginner ZBrush Walkthough

With Adam Munoa. Several students were still a bit lost when it came to the very first steps of getting to know ZBrush. So I decided to add a mini course where I walk Adam through it, real time, and record it. This is the result.

Do you provide feedback to students?

YES! I frequently comment on student work in the community and will sometimes provide draw-over instruction.

Occasionally, I’ll do an in-depth video student feedback session available for all to see.
These videos are available to watch anytime you like.
More sessions are being added all the time.

Interviews with Industry Pros?

New Pro Interviews are added all the time.

I love to sit down with other industry Pros and talk about how they got to where they are in their careers. Plus, I always ask them to share a few of their secrets and techniques on how they do what they do. It’s always great stuff!

What About Student Challenges?

Yes, Student Challenges!

Regularly, I will host challenges where students are given a topic along with some guidelines, and a deadline. Then I bring in Industry Pro Judges to evaluate the student works based on the original guidelines (Psst, I am your mentor - not one of the judges).

Some of the judges in the past have been... Alena Tottle from Disney Feature. Oliver Chipping from RIot Games. Weston Reed from Carbine Studios. Leticia Gilette from Dreamworks/Blizzard. And many more!!The winners get one-on-one coaching time with me to ask me about anything.Here are some examples of past entries.

Who is 3D Workshop for?

If you are a traditional 3D polygon modeler that wants to add high-resolution stylized ZBrush sculpting to your skill set, this is going to be for you.

If you are an illustrator, wanting to use ZBrush to help you quickly moc up concepts, this is going to be for you.

If you are a realistic sculptor wanting to know how to get those clean stylized shapes inside of Zbrush, this course is for you.

If you know how to sculpt characters in ZBrush, but are wanting to know how to make your character into a low-res, Ready-to-Rig, game character, this is for you!

Yes, you get access to everything right away. You can attack the material at any pace you want (I recommend staying in order ? ) I know how life-changing this material can be when you learn and implement it.

If you post your work in the Google+ Community, there is a good chance you will get peer feedback from other students. The community is a safe place to post your work in progress without fear of people being jerks. Sometimes I will personally pop in and give feedback. I give feedback in one of four ways.1) I will respond with a list of things to possibly change2) I will post a draw-over with lines showing you where to possibly change things.3) I will make an animated GIF with a liquified paint-over showing the before and after. These are very popular. Students love them.4) If you are close to the end of your character process, and are hitting a wall not being able to get the appeal you are after, I will occasionally ask for your model, and I will do a video showing how I would add appeal to the character. These are all available for any student to watch.

Great question! The main piece of software you will need is Zbrush. Zbrush will get you through all of the modules except for the last one. To finish the last module, you will need 3D Coat and Marmoset Toolbag 3. Photoshop will help, but is not required.The software you will need to finish the bonus section are Keyshot, and the Keyshot Bridge.Additional software that is mentioned but not covered/required:Substance PainterUnityUnrealMaya

We pride ourselves on having epic customer service. You can always put your question up on the google+ community, but if you would rather, you can send a direct message to the 3d Character Workshop team from right inside the course. Also, all lessons have a comment section where you can ask questions specifically about that lesson.

So, here is the deal on refunds. I pride myself on high quality training that actually works…if you put the work in. Meaning, if you do what I teach you, good things happen. If you don’t do it, nothing good happens. Shocking, right?. If within 30 days, if you are unhappy for whatever reason just email our customer support and you will receive a full refund. My team and I stand behind 3d Character Workshop 100%.

How do I get started & how much does it cost?

Time and money are two finite things we never seem to have enough of. With my 3D Character Workshop, I have been able to create the course that I wish had been available as I was breaking into the industry. It is focused on revealing the tools and teaching the skills needed to build professional quality game characters. Some of my student’s join this course as beginners while others already have some experience working with 3D. What they have in common is a passion to learn how to create higher quality, more appealing stylized characters.

So where are you going to invest your time and money? While there are lots of free videos on YouTube, it will often take hours and hours of exploration to learn the fundamental skills of ZBrush and other game asset related software. Trying to learn from many different videos also doesn’t provide access to an industry proven workflow. There are very expensive college courses available as well that are geared toward those who have the time and energy to become full-time students.

I take a lot of pride in being able to provide this 3D Character Workshop, and with it, a whole lot of value. It is focused to get students up and running with ZBrush very quickly and building their own complete characters.

The entire 3d Character Workshop step-by-step system is a One Payment of only $697, or Two Payments of only $387.

And yes, you will get full access to the program right away. All modules. All downloads. All bonuses. So you can binge your little heart out or take it slow. The choice is yours.

How about a guarantee?

3d Character Workshop comes with a 30-day 100% money back guarantee. I pride myself on high quality programs that actually work…if you put the work in. Meaning, if you do what I teach you, good things happen. If you don’t do it, nothing good happens.

It's true!

If within 30 days, if you are unhappy for whatever reason just email our customer support and you will receive a full refund. My team and I stand behind 3d Character Workshop 100%.

What about testimonials?

"Finding solid ZBrush instruction is hard. Fortunately, Shane Olson has put together a course teaching concepts essential for using ZBrush to design appealing characters. Important concepts that can be translated directly into my own projects!"

Scott Briscoe

"Shane's workshop is the answer for every artist that is struggling to create stylized characters. His principles and way of teaching are different from any course you will find and makes it worth every penny you will spend on this course"

Joao Sousa

"I’ve been learning from Shane’s online tutorials for years, but 3D Character Workshop truly takes it to the next level! The process Shane covers gives you exactly what you need to make super appealing, game ready characters. I highly recommended this course!"

Christopher Dean

"I'm telling you, this course is been worth it since the beginning. Thanks Shane for everything"

Carlos Lee

"Literally the best money I've spent so far. Worth every penny. Learned more from the course than in my college degree for 3d modeling"

Shon Burke

"I can vouch for shane's course! He has shared many of his students works and they are very very successful! Shane has a very straight forward way of teaching and breaks down complex ideas into bite-sized manageable concepts that are easy to grasp and very hands-on! You should all definitely give it a look-see."

AshleyA-cubed

"I send u this message for say thanks for your workshop... You’re an incredible teacher!
You’re an inspirational, motivational, and inspiring to me...
I tried to buy another workshop one year ago (in Italian... I'm Italian) but I understand your workshop better! ❤️ Thanks for all Shane, seriously... You have done a very good job with this workshop and the community!"

Stefano Ganadu

"You are pure awesomeness! Your tutorials are the living proof that learning a tool ( a quite complicated one like Zbrush, especially at first glance ) can be simple and fun! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and for your commitment to teaching! Looking forward to more Shane Olson tutorials !!"